Macmillan, 2007, pp187, £14.99, ISBN 9780230517587

Despite our effort to impose mathematical order, symmetry and cause-and-effect relationships on various natural phenomena, several mysteries about reality raised by philosophers, theologians and cosmologists remain unresolved. This book deals with some of the puzzling facts about life on Earth and the nature of the Universe.

Cosmologists and physicists will find the author’s dealing of the Universe interesting. Dark matter, compared to the visible matter of stars and planets, accounts for about 22% of the mass and energy of the Universe. The rest is made up of dark energy, which is a strange forcefield that permeates space and creaties a repulsive force that causes the Universe to expand. The origin and detection of dark matter and energy still puzzles cosmologists. Also, it is unclear how the earliest galaxies were formed from the interaction of dark and ordinary matter, and how such interaction operated through time to create own Universe.

The concept of origin of life in the Universe, or for that matter on Earth, depends on individual perception. A chemist would view life as carbon based, while a physicist would think of it as neutron matter originating from collapsed stars. An alternative idea, panspermia (supported by Sir Fred Hoyle), considers life to be scattered through space as seeds or spores that propagate throughout the cosmos. However, since various forms of bacteria are robust enough to survive extreme temperatures and atmospheres, a common view is that life in the Universe originates from some form of microbe. It is possible that quadrillions of tiny sea creatures saved the Earth from being a dead planet, like Venus, by absorbing and thereby preventing a massive build up of carbon dioxide and the consequent greenhouse effect.

Unlike the acceptance of evolution by biologists, the Big Bang theory is not universally accepted. One view is that within the first millisecond of the Big Bang, space and time itself started to expand, carrying the matter and energy embedded within it. A concept of a multiverse of a vast ensemble of universes with a huge number of parallel realities is introduced. Our Universe seems to be finely tuned for us to live in. Opponents of the multiuniverse idea have put forward simulation arguments by treating the Universe as a huge cosmic computer in which it is assumed it is possible to simulate artificial consciousness and thereby to live in an artificially created universe.

Once the book is read, one wonders if we are anywhere nearer the truth about the different features of life on Earth or of the Universe than the Ancient Greeks. With the everlasting conflict between relativity and quantum physics, the goal of a ‘grand theory of everything’ appears to be as distant as ever.

Although the explanations of intriguing phenomena are well researched, the arguments are sometimes too convoluted and therefore difficult to follow. However, the author’s enthusiasm to explore the truth about unknowns along with his wealth of knowledge on a range of topics, is impressive and thought provoking. It should prompt the reader to look through the book with a great deal of interest.